The old midwife froze.
The flat abdomen before her was completely different from what she had expected.
There was no obvious swelling.
No sign of pregnancy at all.
“H-how could this be…” she muttered, staring blankly.
Just moments ago, under the loose clothing, she had thought she could vaguely see the curve of a pregnant belly. Yet now, after Su Wantang lifted her shirt, all she saw was a thin, undernourished body.
The outlines of her ribs were visible.
Her waist was slender enough to fit in two hands.
This did not look like a pregnant woman.
At most, she looked weak and malnourished.
“Grandma Wang?” Su Wantang’s voice was soft. “Have you seen enough?”
The old woman snapped back to her senses.
“Oh… yes… yes…”
Her trembling hand hovered uncertainly over Su Wantang’s abdomen.
She pressed lightly.
The belly was soft.
Flat.
Nothing unusual.
To be safe, she reached for Su Wantang’s wrist.
“I… I’ll check your pulse…”
Su Wantang’s heart skipped a beat.
But the system’s disguise was still active.
A moment later, Midwife Wang’s expression changed from nervousness to confusion.
The pulse was weak.
Thin.
Deficient in qi and blood.
Very much like someone who had been ill for a long time or suffered from chronic stomach problems.
It was nothing like the joyful pulse she had occasionally felt in pregnant women.
The old woman blinked several times.
Then she checked again.
And again.
The result was exactly the same.
Finally, she slowly let go.
“How is it?”
Someone in the crowd could not hold back and shouted.
Everyone immediately turned around.
Dozens of eyes focused on Midwife Wang.
The old woman swallowed nervously and looked at Su Wantang, then at the villagers.
“There’s… there’s no sign of pregnancy.”
Silence.
The courtyard fell silent once more.
“What?”
“That’s impossible!”
“Didn’t Wanrou say she was pregnant?”
The villagers stared at one another in disbelief.
Su Wanrou’s face instantly turned pale.
“No!”
She lunged forward.
“That’s impossible! She’s pregnant! She has to be pregnant!”
Like a madwoman, she rushed toward Su Wantang.
“You’re lying! You’re all lying!”
Before she could reach her, several villagers grabbed her arms.
“Wanrou, calm down!”
“She’s gone mad!”
“Hold her back!”
Struggling wildly, Su Wanrou screamed at Midwife Wang:
“You old liar! You took her money too, didn’t you? You’re helping her!”
“I didn’t!” Midwife Wang cried in panic. “I really didn’t! Her pulse doesn’t show pregnancy!”
“Then why has she been vomiting?”
“Why is her stomach getting bigger?”
“Why does she look exactly like a pregnant woman?”
One question after another burst from Su Wanrou’s mouth.
For a moment, nobody could answer.
Even Su Wantang lowered her eyes, concealing the turmoil within them.
The system’s disguise had fooled everyone.
But it could only last one hour.
After that, the truth would return.
“Enough!”
Su Dashan suddenly shouted.
His face remained ugly, but a trace of relief appeared in his eyes.
“If the midwife says she isn’t pregnant, then she isn’t pregnant!”
He looked toward Su Wantang.
“Have you really just been sick?”
Su Wantang clenched her hands inside her sleeves.
“Yes.”
The lie left a bitter taste in her mouth.
“I’ve had stomach problems lately. I’ve been vomiting a lot. I was afraid everyone would worry, so I didn’t say anything.”
Many villagers began nodding.
That explanation seemed reasonable enough.
After all, if she truly were pregnant, how could the midwife fail to notice?
Only Su Wanrou remained unconvinced.
“No… no…”
She shook her head frantically.
“There’s something wrong… something is definitely wrong…”
But after tonight’s exposure of the forged diagnosis, nobody trusted her anymore.
Every accusation sounded like the desperate ranting of a cornered woman.
“Take her home.”
Zhao Dehai waved his hand impatiently.
“She’s lost her mind.”
Several relatives stepped forward and grabbed Su Wanrou.
“No! Let me go!”
“She’s lying!”
“Su Wantang, you liar!”
Her screams echoed through the courtyard as she was dragged away.
Eventually, even those sounds faded into the night.
The crowd gradually dispersed.
The excitement was over.
But not everyone left with peace of mind.
Many villagers glanced suspiciously at Su Wantang before departing.
Although the midwife had cleared her, the seed of doubt had already been planted.
Rumors, once born, rarely died completely.
Soon, only the Su family remained in the courtyard.
The moonlight felt colder than before.
Su Wantang slowly lowered her shirt.
The system countdown continued silently in her mind.
58 minutes remaining.
One hour.
That was all she had bought herself.
One hour before reality returned.
One hour before the secret in her womb could no longer be hidden.
And somewhere beyond the village, walking alone through the darkness, Lu Zhanye knew none of this.
He still carried the strand of her hair.
Still carried the memory of that night.
And still carried a question that refused to leave him:
If the child was not his…
Then why did every clue lead back to Su Wantang?